Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTERPRETING WORD
MEANING
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the session, students will be able to:
✔ use contextual clues to guess the meaning of
words
✔ use components of unknown word to help
determine the meaning of the word
✔ confirm the meaning of words by using the
dictionary
Using Contextual Clues
Definition /
Examples Synonym
Contrast Clue
1. Punctuation
dashes –
parentheses ( )
brackets [ ]
comma ,
colons :
semi-colons ;
Example
punctuation ( dashes)
meaning of ‘origami’
Example
punctuation (comma)
Fibrin, elastic threads of protein in our body, avoids blood to flow from open wound.
meaning of ‘fibrin’
2. Helping Words
Sometimes helping words, along with
punctuation, provide important clues:
that is
meaning
such as
or
is called
is defined as
is known as
is the term for
Example
helping words
punctuation
meaning of ‘perturbed’
3. Clue from Other Sentences
Sentences before or after a sentence
containing an unfamiliar word sometimes
explain the meaning of the word.
Steps to follow:
✔ Read the sentences around the
sentence that contains the unfamiliar
word.
✔ Try to guess the meaning of the word
from the examples / description /
explanation given by the sentences.
Example
Brunei is a very prosperous country. The
country earns billions of dollars through
international trade and commerce. In
addition, the country is one of the largest oil
producers in the world.
Clues:
✔ earns billions of dollars
✔ one of the largest oil
producers
Steps to follow:
✔ Put yourself in the situation, or
recall any similar experience.
✔ Guess the meaning based on your
own experience, or your background
knowledge.
Example
The cacophonous sound made Lily cover her
ears.
Clue:
✔cover ears
Steps to follow:
✔ List all the examples given.
✔ Find the common attributes or the
characteristics of the examples.
✔ Build up your own definition.
Example
Select a periodical from among the
following : Reader’s Digest, Cleo,
FHM, Wanita, Anjung Seri, Jelita, and
Marie Claire.
Steps to follow:
✔ Study the examples and use your
background knowledge.
Example
6. Definition or Synonym
Some sentences use a word you know to help
explain a word you do not know.
Steps to follow:
✔ Look at the sentence structure.
✔ Look at the subject and the predicate parts
of the sentence.
✔ If the unknown word is in the subject
part, most probably the meaning of the
word can be found in the predicate part,
and vice versa
Example
subject predicate
Steps to follow:
✔ Identify the words that signals the opposite.
✔ not, but, although, however, on the other hand.
✔ The word/phrase after the signal word gives you
the opposite meaning of the unknown word
✔ Figure the meaning of the unknown word by
guessing its meaning in the opposite direction
Example
Introverts like solitary activities but extroverts
prefer activities involving people.
VS
A Quick Review
Guess the meaning of the highlighted words. Use
the clues given to help you.
1. While battling the fire in the plastics factory, the firemen wore
oxygen masks to protect themselves from the noxious fumes.
(clues from sentence)
2. I felt fatigue after working and studying for 48 hours non-stop.
(experience)
3. A good supervisor can recognize instantly the adept workers
from the unskilled ones.
(contrast clue)
4. One look at the surgeon’s grim expression told us how badly the
operation had gone.
(clue from sentence)
5. Citadels, fortresses built on high ground to defend cities,
were common in many parts of the Roman Empire.
(punctuation)
Using Word Components
Word Formation
Root Word
+
Affixes
Prefix Suffix
Example
ABLE
+
IN TY
= INABILITY
Example
FACTORY
make place
shoe factory
MORTUARY
die/dead/death place
Where is the
mortuary in the
hospital?
Root Words
Root Word Meaning Example
astro star astronaut
al statistical
ance relating resistance
ence to independence
ic heroic
ion union
ism state of, patriotism
hood quality of brotherhood
ity legality
ment embarrassment
y full of soapy
ful faithful
A Quick Review
Can you guess the meaning of these
affixes?
oct
acou
homo
annu/a
nni
aqua cide
avi
deca cent
A Quick Review
Can you come out with at least 3 words
containing these affixes?
oct
acou
homo
annu/a
nni
aqua cide
avi
deca cent
Using Dictionary
A Good Dictionary
• Female • Large
• Woman • Enormous
• Girl • Oversized
• Lady • Gigantic
• Chick
Find out :
1. Denotation of the words in each group
2. Connotation of each word